irish insider

Grant Hammann cements legacy as hard worker for Irish

Hammann’s father played at the University of Iowa, and Hammann chose to play college football as well — as a wide receiver at Notre Dame.

Michelle Mehelas | The Observer

Irish senior wide receiver Grant Hammann runs out onto the field before Notre Dame’s season opener against Temple on Sept. 2.

Hammann said the decision to come to Notre Dame came down to the academics, as well as the school’s culture.

“It started with academics and then [former assistant coach Bob] Elliott called me when I was a junior and asked me if I wanted to consider playing football here and I decided yes,” Hammann said. “Academics kind of just sold it and then the culture of Notre Dame.”

The marketing major played wide receiver, safety and quarterback at Beckman High School in Dyersville, Iowa. He was named to the All-Tri-State Regional Team and was awarded All-Iowa, All-District, team co-MVP and District MVP, helping his high school team to the state semifinals. Hammann is also exceptionally fast. In high school he achieved 14 state medals and clocks in at 4.34 seconds for his 40-yard dash time.

When discussing what he plans to take away from his experiences at Notre Dame, Hammann said his experiences with difficult situations will be the ones that stick with him.

“If you have someone that you don’t necessarily like or if you are in a situation that you don’t necessarily like how you can kind of dig yourself out of that and just kind of manage the adversity so that you can come out on top and be successful with it,” Hammann said.

Hammann said being on the team has taught him many valuable life lessons. One of the best ones, he revealed, is the time management skills he learned.

“Right now I am in eight classes and I have football too,” he said. “Trying to manage pretty much being up from six in the morning and then not getting home ‘til 10 at night. You have to figure out the little 15 minute increments that you can get your work done in and you really have to plan everything out.”

Being on the scout team has also taught Hammann a lot about perseverance.

“It’s just a thankless job,” he said. “You just have to do your job regardless of what’s going on and just kind of roll with the punches.”

The former Keough resident plans on working in sales after graduation.

“After graduation I am doing sales for a company called Stryker and I’m actually really excited about that, so it’ll be fun.”

Hammann will miss his teammates themselves most of all. He said he is closest with senior defensive lineman Ryan Kilander, his roommate.

“I’ll miss all the guys. My closest friends are on the team,” Hammann said. “It’ll be kind of different to go out and not see them every day.”

One quote that he hoped to remember and take with him is “Don’t let anyone steal you happiness.”

“I don’t remember who said it but the quote was, ‘Don’t let anyone steal your happiness’ and someone told me that I think my freshmen year,” Hammann said. “That just kind of stuck with me throughout, so no matter how hard anything gets, you just have to be happy and don’t let anyone steal it from you.”